erwtfandomcom-20200215-history
Gutreal
Geology Gutreal is located at 12 o'clock on the Face of Erwt, neighboring the Mangali grasslands to the west and the forested Weald to the east. Geologically, Gutreal is profoundly strange. It's one of the most geophysically unrealistic region on Erwt. The Oceanside coast is high granite cliffs, 10-100 meters high. Broken and irregular, the uneven shore is hazardous and prone to rockfall, as though the continent were a slow granite glacier sliding into the salty ocean. Gutreal slopes generally upward towards the Seaside coast, where the land ends precipitously at a 4000-meter vertical drop. The face of this Cliff (name?) is not entirely smooth, not entirely vertical, but from a distance it looks that way. The peaks are covered in ice, perpetually assaulted by punishing winds. From cracks at high altitudes, frozen waterfalls emerge, which thaw lower down and disappear into a fine mist long before they reach the sea. A unique ecology exists in the face, innumerable birds perching their nests precariously on outcroppings and in slight hollows, with cliffhanging reptiles and bizarre insects preying on bird and egg. Some plants and even trees manage to eke out a living here. The mix of species of plant and animal vary wildly by elevation, not that much is known about any of this (only the most dedicated wizards have the ability and interest necessary to visit the place!). It is said that some of the cracks go deep into the Mountains, but it is not known if the tunnels reach the surface. Some even say the tunnels go down, to another world altogether, but most likely they just end somewhere in the massive body of the mountain. Between the coasts, the Land is a harsh plateau, surrounded by and broken up by high mountain ranges. There are four plateaus: Rea is the highest and closest to the Sea, Gutwith and Rocliffe are oceanward of Rea, and Brocklye is lowest and on the Oceanside coast. The high ranges block westward moving rain clouds, and the eastern part of the Land (Gutwith) is a land of endlessly cascading streams and whitewater torrents. The western part (Rocliffe) is dry and desert-like like the Tibetan Plateau on Earth. Both have hot valleys and cold peaks. History The depiction of their liberation from the yoke of the Wizard-Kings did not go exactly as how the Church depicts it, which is not understood by the other peoples of Erwt. At the time of the Redeemer, there were four Wizard-Kings in Gutreal: King Leon of Gutwith, King Ty of Rocliffe, King Rowley of Brocklye, and Queen Severa of Rea. The Wizard - Kings stepped down of their own accord, once it was clear what their subjects thought they wanted. These were not Evil wizards, possibly they were even Good, but it's impossible to know after the Church's evangelical revisionism. In any case, the mundane institutions that derived their power from the ruling wizards did fight the Redeemer's revolution, so the results are very much the same as though the wizards themselves resisted: wanton bloodshed, destruction of barleyshrub fields that had taken centuries to establish, and economic ruin for this already desperately poor region. The people, wishing for a bit of modernization in a very rigid traditional quasi-theocratic culture, got more than they bargained for. Due to the destruction of their primary agricultural product, they were unable to feed themselves. The goat and yak herds collapsed in the years that followed. Streamweed, the extremely nutritious algae that grows in glacial meltwater streams, was overharvested and became a rare medicinal herb (for treatment of symptoms of malnutrition, mostly) rather than a staple food. Meanwhile, the progressives wanted to start paving roads and building forts, which were all the rage in those days in other corners of Erwt. Iron, copper, and silver deposits were known to exist, but had never before been exploited at scale. Now, with no other options, mining settlements were erected, to raise funds for food imports until the traditional way of life in Gutreal could resume. The settlements attracted immigrants, who brought their own cultures with them, and the immigrants attracted merchants, roads were built (but not to the traditional temple-cities at first), and forts (to protect the valuable mines and storehouses), and Gutreal was changed forever. Society In Rea, there is one city, Ae. Ae is small, far above the tree line, and is still largely unchanged from its pre-Redeemer existence. The greatest difference now is that its chief economic activity is crafting clothes, tools and equipment out of raw materials brought up from below, rather than spiritual services. Rea is still a very remote and mysterious country. Gutwith and Rocliffe are the most modernized, each with a large mining city and a smaller traditional city, along with numerous small mining settlements and seasonal herding communities. Brocklye is very poor, lacking the mineral riches of Rocliffe, the even roads of Gutwith, and the spiritual heights of Rea, but it is low enough in altitude and has enough arable land that it can exist independently, so a lot of the turmoil and strife after the revolution passed Brocklye by. The mountain people of Brocklye are pragmatists. Agriculture Barleyshrub is a slow-growing hardy shrub that thrives in stony soils and with low temperatures. After 10 years, a planted shrub starts to yield tiny berries, which are harvested, soaked in running water, then dried and pounded into a powder which can be used for bread, pasta, or fermented into shrub-wine (a slightly carbonated beverage reminiscent of barley wine). Barleyshrub is the primary agricultural product in the region. Streamweed is an extremely nutritious algae that grows in glacial meltwater streams, now used primarily as a medicinal herb used to treat vitamin deficiencies. Goats and yaks are used for milk, hides, wool, and meat. Fishing. Stories Devil, Over the EdgeCategory:Place